Chapter 7

The rest of the summer was very busy. In addition to all of the normal things that there were to do, there were now OB/GYN appointments for Astrid and pediatric appointments for Charlie. Astrid was breast feeding him and she needed to be careful about sex. Of course she was very sore after the delivery and needed to wait six to eight weeks before having vaginal sex.

However, with all of the breast feeding, Astrid was soon as horny as ever and needed a little relief. It was only three weeks before she wanted anal sex. Of course, she had been knocked out initially from the delivery and the feeding schedule for Charlie. We had been able to help a little with that by having Astrid pump her breasts and saving the milk to feed Charlie in a bottle, so Astrid could get some much need sleep.

Sandra and I were able to do that easily. Sandra would let Charlie suck on her nipples for a while when he was hungry, and when he got cranky from not getting anything to eat she would put the nipple of the bottle in his mouth. That worked just fine, as Charlie was one hungry baby just as Astrid had said in the hospital. Of course all of this sucking on her breast left Sandra horny, and I would have to take care of her needs after she fed the baby. It was something we both enjoyed.

Astrid seemed to get a renewed interest in life after she started having sex again. Most especially, she was unhappy about all of the weight that she had gained during pregnancy. By mid-July, she was working on losing the weight and re-gaining her figure. Her doctor had also encouraged her to lose the weight. She also got her the bone density scan that had been put off while Astrid was pregnant. It turned out that she had a slight calcium deficiency, and her doctor continued the calcium prescription that she had been taking during pregnancy. The doctor also put her on the patch after three months.

Three months was also the point at which Astrid stopped breastfeeding Charlie. He fussed a bit at first, but Astrid would let him suck on her nipples just a bit and then give him the bottle, just like Sandra and I had done. It still worked. Of course now there were bottles to sterilize and formula to prepare and heat.

Sandra and I had started back to school before this at the beginning of September. I was a Senior this year and Sandra was a Sophomore. We were still part of the outcasts, however, as we didn't participate in any of the school activities or hangout with any of the social groups in school. We went home immediately after class and didn't go to any of the football or basketball games. We didn't play golf or tennis either, plus neither of us had a boyfriend or girlfriend that attended that school.

We slowly learned that there were others like us at the school, and we would meet them for lunch when our schedules coincided. We were never close friends with them, just kindred spirits. I also noted that they and we tended to be the ones in our classes with the best grades.

My eighteenth birthday in November went by with hardly a notice. Astrid had a small celebration for me, but my mother and aunt didn't seem to notice or care. The holidays also came and went with the same lack of notice by the rest of the family. My mother and Aunt Eff weren't speaking to Astrid again because of the way she had named Charlie. Consequently, we didn't see either of them for the holidays. Mike and Ike came by for a while at Thanksgiving and again for Christmas / New Years.

By the beginning of the new year, Astrid had lost much of the weight and her breasts had gone down a little, now that she wasn't breastfeeding, but they were still a little larger then they had been before she got pregnant, and she really did look good. She had let her hair grow longer and that made her even lovelier - in my eyes, anyway.

Sandra too had filled out some and her breasts were larger also. I thought it might have been something to do with Charlie sucking on her breasts, but wasn't sure. You see I had also been sucking on her breasts. We had also had a lot of sex, especially while Astrid was recovering, and we hadn't slowed down any afterward. Sandra was all that I could want in a young girlfriend and more. She was also a willing babysitter when Astrid and I needed to be alone. At other times she was a willing participant in our lovemaking.

It was a real shock then when our mother showed up the weekend before Valentine's Day in February. I was the one that went to answer the door that Saturday afternoon when the bell rang.

"Hello, Steve," my mother said in a very quiet voice. "May we come in?"

"Mother, Ike! Yes, come in," I replied and unlocked the storm door.

"I know that I haven't been here in a while, but we need to talk to Astrid," my mother said. Ike hadn't said anything up to this point.

"All right, I'll get her. She's upstairs with the baby. Have a seat in the living room," I told them and led them into the living room. Charlie was eight months old by now and was a real handful, as he had learned to crawl and would go all over if you didn't watch him closely.

Sandra had been in the kitchen preparing lunch for us and came out when she heard the voices.

"Mother!" she blurted out on seeing her, but didn't move to hug her or anything.

"Hello, Sandra. Are you OK?" Regina asked her daughter.

"Yes, I'm fine. What are you doing here?" Sandra asked, puzzled at seeing her mother after so long.

"I need to talk to Astrid!" Regina answered, close to tears.

In the meantime, I had gone upstairs to alert Astrid to our visitors. She was on the floor of the baby's room when I came in, laughing and giggling with Charlie like a young girl. It was very apparent that she enjoyed having a child and loved her son deeply.

"Astrid," I interrupted, "my mother and Ike are here to see you." Astrid froze in place for a few seconds at these words.

"What does Regina want?" Astrid asked in icy tones.

"I don't know. She only said that she needed to talk to you. Ike hasn't said anything - yet."

"All right," Astrid said in resignation. "Help me with Charlie, and we'll go down and see what she wants."

We got Charlie dressed. Astrid has an electric radiator that she uses in Charlie's room to keep it warmer than the rest of the house, especially at night. We all like to sleep in a cool house under warm covers. We dressed Charlie for the cooler temperatures in the rest of the house.

We descended the stairs with Astrid in the lead and me following her with Charlie. He is a very affectionate little boy with Astrid and Sandra. Me - he tolerates, as if he already thought that I was a rival for their affections.

"Hello Regina, Ike," Astrid said when she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hello, Astrid. How are you?" Regina asked, nervously.

"I'm all right. Steve said that you need to see me."

"Yes, I ... WE need to talk to you," Regina started in desperation. "Ike has asked me to marry him. You see I'm pregnant. We're pretty sure that its Ike's baby, but it could be Mike's. We just aren't sure. Mike hasn't been around in a while. He bowed out when Ike and I got serious about each other, but I'm not sure if it was soon enough!" Regina finished in tears. Ike pulled her into his arms and consoled her.

"That's all very nice, Regina. I'm happy for you, but why are you telling me this?" Astrid asked, confused.

"You're the only one that I can talk to," Regina answered, all choked up. "Eff won't talk to me. She never approved of either Mike or Ike, and when she found out a week ago that I was pregnant and going to marry Ike, she refused to even speak to me.

"And ... and ... well, you're my step-mother, and I need someone to talk to," Regina wailed in tears.

Astrid took in a long breath and slowly let it out. Sandra and I both stood there in shock at this news.

"All right, Regina. I'm sorry for acting so snotty when I came downstairs, but we didn't exactly part on the best of terms the last time we saw each other," Astrid stated. Then she turned to her brother.

"Congratulations, Ike," Astrid said. "It's about time my big brother got married."

"Thanks, Sis," Ike said. He was still holding Regina and trying to calm her down.

"Regina, why don't we go in the kitchen. I'll make us some tea and we can talk. Sandra you can come with us and help me with your mother. Ike and Steve can watch Charlie for a while," Astrid told all of us.

Ike and I returned to the living room and sat on the sofa while the women went to the kitchen to have tea. Charlie clung to me and hid his face, as he didn't know this strange man and was frightened.

"I guess he's a little shy," Ike said, seeing his behavior.

"Yes, strangers upset him," I answered.

"So you and Mom are getting married?" I asked, after a short pause.

"Yes, in a couple of weeks. We have a few details to workout: business details, the house, and a few other things," Ike told me.

"So you'll be my step-father," I said.

"Yes, I guess I will! It will be kind of a strange arrangement, won't it. Technically, I'm your great uncle. Now, I'll also be your step-father," Ike finished for a second before he started to smile.

"It won't be any worse than the fact that Charlie is technically your uncle, as Astrid's son, yet you're also his father," Ike finished with a huge grin.

"You know!?" I asked, surprised but I had suspected it.

"Oh, yes. Mike and I knew the first day there in the hospital. Charlie doesn't have any of Roger's features, but does have all of yours," Ike said.

"Yet, you didn't say anything."

"No. Why should we? We were sure that Astrid had a good reason for pretending it was Roger's. Actually, she never really said that it was Roger's. Regina and Eff just assumed that it was, and Astrid didn't point out their error," Ike told me.

"No, she didn't!" I said, thinking back on how things had been.

We had been sitting there for some time, and I was playing with Charlie, when the women returned from the kitchen. Mom rushed up to me and hugged me. There were tears on her face, but she was smiling at me.

"Congratulations, Steve," she said, before turning to Ike.

"My son, Steve, has proposed to your sister, Ike," Mom said, smiling.

The shock on Ike's face was something to see. He sputtered for several seconds before getting up and coming over to shake my hand.

"Well," he said, "first you got Astrid knocked up and now you want to marry her," Ike said.

"Didn't you do the same thing with my mother?" I asked.

"Seems like I did!" Ike agreed, grinning.

"What do you mean 'Got Her Knocked Up'?" Regina demanded in shock.

"It's simple," Astrid said. "Charlie is Steve's son."

"Oh ... my ... God!!" Regina exclaimed. "We thought it was your ex."

"Yes, I know," Astrid told her.

"But how long ... that is when ... you know what I mean," Regina said, flustered.

"I seduced Steve that first day that he was here two summers ago," Astrid admitted.

"Oh my God!" Regina said again, in disbelief.

"So I'm your great uncle and I'll be your step-father and your brother-in-law, also," Ike said, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's worse than that," Sandra said. "Steve is my brother, but when he marries Astrid that will make him my grandfather and ... and... !!" Sandra suddenly shut up realizing that she was about to spill the beans about us.

"And what, Dear?" Regina asked.

"And it's just too complicated and getting ridiculous. Astrid is my grandmother and then she'll also be my sister-in-law, too," Sandra said trying to cover up her reason for stopping.

"Yes," Astrid added trying to help Sandra. "Charlie will be Steve's son and his uncle at the same time." Everyone started to laugh then at how strange and contorted the relationships in the family would soon become.